INSTANT MBA: There Are Challenges Unique To Leadership Roles

"Having raw leadership potential is by no means a guarantee of success—it just earns a position in the starting gate. In most cases where we found leaders running into trouble, they were actually wrestling with particular challenges that are unique to leadership roles."

Thompson says that effective leaders avoid hidden traps that include focusing on technical skills instead of leadership skills, jumping in to a project too quickly, and enabling undiversified team thinking. Leadership often manifests itself after years of experience, though Thompson's tips help to mitigate the inevitable difficulties that present themselves before the golden years of wisdom are met. Team-oriented, long-term goals are often the best ways to find success.

"If [leaders] are doing their jobs as the setter of organizational vision and driver of significant change, it might be many months or even years before they see the real results of their efforts—and things may well get worse before they get better. That can mean that in the short term many people think they’re not being successful, and become impatient with the apparent lack of results."

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